Events:
Past Event Summaries

January Meeting Summary:
Loco for Local Media
by Mary Hecht-Kissell

At the Triangle IABC's January meeting, News & Observer's Senior Business Reporter Jonathan Cox and Capstrat's Senior V.P and Director of Media Relations David Chatham shared their tips for attracting the local media's attention to get your news stories told. Here is a summary of their advice:

Building Relations with the Media
In order to build strong relationships with reporters, you must read what the reporter writes. This is the only way to truly know what is important and newsworthy to the reporter. By knowing what is important, you won't waste their time or your time pitching articles that aren't relevant or newsworthy.

Bear in mind that a typical reporter works on four to five articles simultaneously. They receive 200-300 emails each day. Pressure and deadlines are a way of life for reporters. While some reporters may come across as unapproachable, it's really a reflection on how busy they are and how bombarded they are by PR pitches.

Avoid hit and run relationships. It is important to build strong relationships with reporters over time. Make an effort to know a reporter's favorite topics to cover and their hobbies. Send them useful information even if it doesn't result in an article about your company or your client. Strive to become a reporter's trusted source. The media coverage will follow eventually.

When a reporter calls you regarding an article he is working on, don't be on the defensive. There are three typical responses: 1) Sharing all information freely, 2) Saying "no comment" or 3) Steering the reporter in a different direction. Option 1 is always the best. Be as honest and open as you can be with reporters. Sometimes, a simple "I don't know the answer, but will find it and call you back by 2:00 p.m. today" is satisfactory. At other times, you must say "I can't answer that question at this time." This response is less desirable for the reporter but required for legal or business reasons from time to time.

Most importantly, never lie to a reporter! Once the reporter knows you are lying, he or she will never trust you again.

Often reporters are asked if PR people can see an article in advance of it being published. The answer is always no. However, some reporters will verbally share the highlights of the article with you.

Jonathan prefers PR people to be proactive regarding bad news. He feels it is less of a story when someone calls him and says "you may hear that our company is doing layoffs right now. I want to explain why and give you the facts." In contrast, if he feels people are hiding something, he concludes it must be a big deal and very newsworthy.

Reporters like to be invited to a company to learn about the business, meet executives and get a product demonstration. Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of time to dedicate to this type of activity. Therefore, this type of visit must be tied to a news story. If you don't have a big news story to share, you may want to request a 15 minute informational interview with a reporter to begin the relationship and familiarize him with your company. It is a great opportunity to demonstrate how you can be a conduit to people and information that they may need at a future time.

What is Considered Newsworthy
Here are some suggestions for what is considered newsworthy:

  • Executives changing roles
  • New product announcements
  • New store openings
  • News that fits into a trend (e.g., economic crisis, going green, war on terrorism)
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Accidents (e.g., fire at a manufacturing plant)
  • Lawsuits
  • Corporate growth (e.g., adding headcount, continued revenue growth)
  • Something unusual, different, unexpected (e.g., man bites dog)

Jonathan cautioned PR people not to circumvent the reporters and pitch directly to editors. This process detracts from the healthy relationship you could have directly with the reporter.

When trying to gauge how interesting a proposed story for the News & Observer will be, bear in mind that 80 percent of the stories are written for the "Moms and Dads" audience and 20 percent of articles are written to help the "sophisticated investor."

Media coverage can be enhanced by offering exclusive stories to a publication. Examine what objectives you trying to achieve with your audience to decide when to give an exclusive story to a publication.

Consider PR opportunities with local TV and radio media as well. Be sure you have skilled spokespersons for those. Television also requires plenty of good visuals for the camera.

Regarding press releases, Jonathan looks at press releases as supporting documents for news versus something that really gets his attention. He prefers PR people to call him in advance of the press release being issued and tell him why he should pay attention to an upcoming press release.

Pet Peeves
Jonathan's pet peeves include:

  • PR people that don't return his calls. He prefers when PR people call or email him so that he knows they are working to obtain information he needs for his story.
  • PR people that call him at 5:00 p.m. to pitch a story. Five o'clock is deadline time for daily newspaper reporters. Therefore, it is not a good time to call. Jonathan prefers to be called between 9:00 a.m. and 12 noon.
  • PR people that pitch articles to him without knowing what he writes about. PR people should do their research before picking up the phone. Jonathan also cautions against shopping articles to his colleagues. If he declines on an idea for an article, there is a very good chance that his peers will do the same.
  • PR people that don't understand deadlines. Do not suggest that a reporter hold his story until the next day to give yourself more time to gather your facts. Deadlines are deadlines.
  • PR people that refuse to contribute input to his stories and then complain about the content after the article appears in the newspaper. Reporters believe that if you don't contribute to the process up front, you lose your right to complain after the article is published.

Media Trends
Small Editorial Staffs: Major publications continue to downsize their editorial staffs. As a result, the fewer reporters that remain are required to cover a broader range of topics. This makes relationship building and PR pitching more difficult.

Blogs: Blogs written by newspaper reporters provide a new opportunity to get media coverage.

By following this advice, PR professionals can obtain excellent media coverage for their company or clients and achieve their public relations goals.

Mary Hecht-Kissell is president of PR Strategies, a PR and marketing consultancy specializing in information technology businesses. Mary can be reached at 919-846-4949 or maryhk@nc.rr.com